1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” 1 says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful! 2
6:1 I looked on when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a thunderous voice, 5 “Come!” 6
7:13 Then 7 one of the elders asked 8 me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?”
19:7 Let us rejoice 9 and exult
and give him glory,
because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
1 tc The shorter reading “Omega” (ὦ, w) has superior ms evidence ({א1 A C 1611}) to the longer reading which includes “the beginning and the end” (ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος or ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος, arch kai telo" or Jh arch kai to telo"), found in א*,2 1854 2050 2329 2351 ÏA lat bo. There is little reason why a scribe would have deleted the words, but their clarifying value and the fact that they harmonize with 21:6 indicate that they are a secondary addition to the text.
2 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
3 tc The “therefore” (οὖν, oun) is not found in א 2053 2329 2351 ÏA or the Latin
4 tn Grk “with them”; the referent (those people who follow the teaching of Balaam and the Nicolaitans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Grk “saying like a voice [or sound] of thunder.”
6 tc The addition of “and see” (καὶ ἴδε or καὶ βλέπε [kai ide or kai blepe]) to “come” (ἔρχου, ercou) in 6:1, 3-5, 7 is a gloss directed to John, i.e., “come and look at the seals and the horsemen!” But the command ἔρχου is better interpreted as directed to each of the horsemen. The shorter reading also has the support of the better witnesses.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
8 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
9 tn This verb and the next two verbs are hortatory subjunctives (giving exhortations).
10 sn This statement appears to be a parenthetical comment by the author.